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Close games in Little League tournament
Two games go extra innings
By Dick Sparrer
They'll crown a major division champion in the Los Gatos Little League early next week.
But winning that title will be anything but easy, at least if the first nine games of the division playoffs are any indication.
The nine teams of the league opened the elimination tournament last week, and of the nine games already played eight have been decided by three runs or less. Five of the games have been decided by just a single run, and two of the games have gone extra innings.
"It's been incredible," said league board member Randy Frey. "Every game has been close."
The closest of them all were a pair of seven inning games won the A's and the Yankees, both of them by scores of 2-1.
The regular season champion A's opened the tournament with a 6-1 win over the Tigers, then they came back to edge the Braves 2-1 in seven innings on Saturday.
Scott Werner singled with one out in the last of the seventh, then gave way to pinch runner Kyle Weiss. Darren Churchill followed with a double to knock home Weiss with the game-winning run.
The A's had taken the early lead with a run in the first. Steve Stege, who had two hits in the game, ripped a lead-off single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a passed ball. Kyle Blair singled him home to give the A's a 1-0 lead.
The Braves tied it in the fifth when Nick Elias doubled, moved to third on a sac bunt and scored on a wild pitch.
Matt Ellis tossed three scoreless innings for the A's, striking out five and allowing just one hit, and Blair tossed three innings, fanning four and giving up just one hit. Jackson Dallas came on in relief in the seventh to pick up the win, striking out a pair.
Daniel Norvelle tossed three strong innings for the Braves and Steve Zavodnick threw the final four. Zavodnick was perfect for three innings before giving up the run in the seventh.
David Cardinale singled to account for the only other hit for the Braves in the game.
Earlier in the week, Ellis and Blair had combined to tossed a 2-hitter in a 6-1 win over the Tigers. Ellis fanned five in three innings and Blair struck out seven over the final three.
Ellis doubled and scored on a single by Dallas in the second, and Dallas walked and scored on a two-run homer by Nick Kalpin in the fourth.
Blair was 2-for-3 with a double and John Gallien doubled for the A's in the win.
Andrew Clark slapped a run-scoring single in the first for the Tigers and Blake Morrison singled in the third.
The Yankees, meanwhile, went seven innings to turn back the Red Sox 2-1.
Jake Jensen was 4-for-4, scored the winning run and also came on in relief to pick up the mound win for the Yanks.
Ali Zahrieh walked to open the last of the seventh for the Yankees and raced to third on a one-out single by Jensen. Zahrieh attempted to score on a passed ball, but third baseman Craig Olsen raced to the plate to take the throw from the catcher to tag Zahrieh for the second out of the inning.
But Nick Smith came through with a double to knock in Jensen, and the Yankees claimed the 2-1 win.
Garrett Blackwell singled and scored the only run of the game for the Red Sox, but the Yanks tied it in the third on singles by Nathan Aguiar, Jensen and Stephen Krach.
Bricklin Foley struck out five over the first three innings for the Yankees, and Krach fanned six over the next three. But it was Jensen who came on in the seventh to blank the Sox and claim the win.
Olsen and Raymond Salazar each tossed three strong innings for the Red Sox. Mark Hasson and Blackwell had the only hits for the Sox.
The Yankees were to face the Indians on Sunday with the winner to meet the A's on June 5, 5:30 p.m., in the finals of the winner's bracket. The division championship game is June 11, 5:30 p.m., at Baggerly Field.
The Tigers opened the league tournament with a tight 4-3 win over the Cubs. Alex Tsusaki allowed just two hits and struck out three in three scoreless innings to get the pitching win.
It was a run-scoring double by Clark in the fourth inning that snapped a 3-3 tie.
Bradley Tomy doubled and scored a run in the first for the Tigers and he ripped a two-run double in the second.
Tim Sweeney belted a three-run homer in the third inning to account for all of the scoring for the Cubs. K.C. Silva singled and doubled in the game, and he also tossed three strong innings, allowing two hits and fanning five.
The Cubs were eliminated from the tournament when they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Giants on Saturday.
It was a scoreless tie until the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Black singled with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice by Alex Zanotto. Black took third on a wild pitch before Will Kapp walked, then scored on an error.
Black tossed three innings of one-hit baseball, striking out three, and Evan Bolton gave up just a hit and a walk over the final three, whiffing four.
Sweeney fired five scoreless innings for the Cubs, striking out four and allowing just one hit. Sweeney doubled and Paul Politti singled to account for the only Cubs' hits.
The Giants had lost 8-6 to the Indians earlier in the week. The Giants were up 5-1 after three innings, but the Indians scored two in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie it, then added three in the top of the sixth to win it.
Noah Henry doubled with one out in the sixth and scored on a two-out double by Lucas deMilo to give the Indians the lead. David Martini then clinched the win with a two-run homer.
Martini tossed five strong innings to get the win and finished the day with two hits. Karl Winkelman doubled for the Indians.
Zanotto and Kapp ripped two hits apiece for the Giants.
The Red Sox opened tourney play with a tight 3-2 win over the Marlins. Olsen and Salazar combined for a 3-hitter in the win.
The Sox clinched the win with two runs in the fifth. Mikey Denevi drove home a run with a bases-loaded walk, and Chris Walker plated another with a sacrifice fly.
The Marlins answered with a run in the sixth when Colby Moore walked and scored on a triple by Nate DeSilva. But DeSilva, who had two hits in the game, was left stranded at third.
The Marlins were eliminated on Saturday when they lost 4-1 to the Cardinals. Nick Schradle and Woody Wilkerson combined to whirl a no-hitter. Wilkerson struck out six over the final three innings.
Singles by Danny Wall, Michael Picone and Wilkerson sparked a two-run rally in the first inning, and that was all the hurlers needed.
The Cards had dropped a 9-6 decision to the Braves earlier in the week. Daniel Norvelle blanked the Cardinals over the final three innings to get the win, striking out five and allowing just two hits.
Kyle Johnson doubled home a run, and Zavodnick and Eric McDonald each ripped run-scoring singles in a four-run rally in the fourth for the Braves. McDonald was 3-for-4 with a double.
Wilkerson belted a two-run homer in the first and also singled for the Cards. Picone and Sean Wasserman had two hits apiece and Schradle ripped a two-run double in the second.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
